NOTES FOR VISITORS: Welcome to the Alaska Outdoors Supersite forums! The contents of our forums are viewable by anyone, and may be read by clicking the forum headings below. To post in the forums, you must register at THIS LINK. To upgrade or change your membership, please login and select Upgrade > Supporting Membership. Your account will now be managed separately from the forum system. Forum login is separate from account management but shares the same username and password.

IMPORTANT: If you cannot log-in, please reset your password using our new 6 character format through THIS LINK and click Forgot Password. An email message with a reset link will be sent to your email address.

Vacmaster VP215 Oil and Gas Seperator

I was changing my oil recently and saw my oil and gas separator was pretty gunked up. I was able to buy a replacement for $20-$25 and shipping for $10. Anyone else have to change one of these? Its pretty simple but the new separator has a 90 angle rather than just straight up. I have owned it for 4 years, doing about 700lbs of fish, three moose, two caribou, and countless premade meals and leftovers. Anyways here is what the old and new looked like: 1.jpg2.jpg

I also had a little bit of oil in the bottom of my air filter, downstream from the oil and gas separator. It was dirty but not horrible. I was able to disconnect it and pour the oil out of it. I did buy another oil and gas separator and air filter so when I deal with this down the road, I got what I needed as the shipping didn't change for one item or three.

But has anyone else changed one of these out since owning their VP215 or maybe any other vacuum sealer with an oil and gas separator? How did it look in comparison to mine? I don't recall it being too bad during my oil change in the summer but this fall we did one caribou and two moose and it got noticeably worse.

I spoke with Jay from AK butcher and supply today and the sportsmens show and showed him the picture. He said it was probably from a small leak on the unit at the base of it. He stated you can usually take a lot of it apart and clean it out, or at least disassemble it as much as possible. Also he said that mine was the worse he had ever seen.

When we talked about the air filter, I told him it was fine and I dumped out some oil, but usually replaces them. When asked about my last oil change, I told him that it was after fishing season but before hunting season. That was a concern of his but if I was keeping track of my oil, then that would not have caused it.

Sadly he he did indicate some parts are made in china now for replacements and that may lead to problems down the road.

Had the same problem and brought it into a guy that works on them, he replaced some gaskets and even changed out the pumped after the second time I brought it to him. Same issue and the problems hasnt been solved. Mine is due to be changed out again also. Looks similar to yours. I also use the heck out of it and plan on going to a bigger one from AK butcher

Had the same problem and brought it into a guy that works on them, he replaced some gaskets and even changed out the pumped after the second time I brought it to him. Same issue and the problems hasnt been solved. Mine is due to be changed out again also. Looks similar to yours. I also use the heck out of it and plan on going to a bigger one from AK butcher

Appreciate the comment Tyin 1 On, I am curious to know how long you have had yours and how much have you put through the machine? I worked for a fishing charter back ten years ago and I remember they had a Vacmaster that could do 4 bags at a time. They had three of them but I do not remember this oil and gas separator being apart of it. I may be wrong as it has been ten years. I remember the most frequent thing we changed other than oil was the tape on the seal bar. We also put hose clamps on hose, so I am likely to do that with mine as they come off pretty easy without them. Amazingly we were sealing some fish one day and managed to have a piece of the lid break off in the middle. About four inches long by a half inch wide and tall. It was strange. I guess thinking of it, we replaced the lid gasket occasionally but the most troubleshooting we ever had to do was replacing one of the relays. I think as time goes on, more VP 215 issues will arise and we can know the true ins and outs of it. Still glad that I bought it and will never buy a Food Saver as they do not fit my needs.

Sorry for the late reply, I am in the middle of changing jobs and housing at this time. Will have to lug the machine up a few flights of stairs in the coming days.